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About Ur-Marshal Assur Rh'Lluria

Not much is known of the man whom history would record as one of the Tzo'lad'zyu Imperium's most famous martial figures. Almost a legend in his own time, the Duush-su'Savan--"Dwarf-Butcher" in Tzo'lad'zyu--appears on the scene shortly after 23,788, several years before the beginning of the War of Long Tears. Already a competent fighter, driven by a fierce anger fueled by the su'Savan's slaughter of his entire family line, Assur rose through the Legionnaires' ranks swiftly as the dwarvish war against Tzo'lad'zyu domination swung into full force. By 23,887, he'd become synonymous with the war and was now in full command of its progress. Personally-honoured by the God-Emperor Ssomac IX Ssakar himself, the Ur-Marshal would relentlessly drive back the su'Savan clans, ruthlessly cutting them down with a bloodlust that few could emulate or fathom.

Over the ensuing ninety-nine years, his hatred of his foe consumed him. By the time of the war's denouement at the Battle of Fhaash, nothing would have satisfied the Ur-Marshal but complete and total decimation of the dwarven hosts. City after city had fallen, most of the clans' holdfasts had been broken, shattering ancient lines that predated the coming of Man to the continent, much less the growth of the Imperium.

But it was the Battle of Fhaash which would seal Assur's legend and place in history. A last-ditch effort by the remaining, combined forces of the su'Savan warlords, the clans had chosen the city of Fhaash as their final redoubt. Every man, woman and child was armed and given instruction on how to do battle. It was a pitiful, rag-tag army of less than ten thousand souls, all that was left of a once-great race, whose defiance and battle-skill had shaken the mighty Tzo'lad'zyu Imperium...and very nearly halted her historical expansion across the continent that bore her name.

Once engaged, Assur gave no quarter. Every combatant encountered was put to the sword. No prisoners were taken. Once the su'Savan realised this, they directed as many female and young to the rear, directing them to escape with whatever they could. Even so, on the 1st day of Shadhu-shara, 23,887, Fhaash fell completely, collapsing in a cataclysmic magickal attack which cursed the very ground the city had once stood on. To this very day, twenty-two millennia later, not a single blade of grass grows within the borders of what once was the dwarves' final battlefield.

What happened next, no one is entirely sure. Ur-Marshal Assur Rh'Lluria all-but-disappears from the history texts. Even the nominally-profusive Ash ul Ashall--Deeds of the Legions--becomes strangely silent on the subject. Some sources claim that he died in the aftermath of the Battle of Fhaash, committing suicide in a final act of spite which ended both his own line and that of his hated nemesis. Others point to the Throne of Thorns and whisper that the God-Emperors lifted him up, blessing him with an immortal frame as reward for his valued services to their cause. Those same stories further claim that he lives still, many, many millennia after his apotheosis, a quasi-divine warmaster for the God-Emperors on the moon Ssakar.

Most telling, however, are the very stories themselves, their divergences, wild claims and fantastic hagiography. More than anything they point to what is probably his most likely fate: simple retirement. Bereft of his life's goal and now having done his duty to God-Emperor, nation and Gheh, Assur, son of Dameth, only surviving scion of Gheh Rh'Lluria, more than likely stepped down from his office and lived however many years left in his skein...far, far, far away from the public eye.

But never far away from the memories of his deeds, which linger still, if only in legends which will never die...